As environmental sustainability and climate action continue to set organizations apart, few business maxims seem more applicable. Everything in the world is connected. Companies that ignore this do so at their own peril. It’s more important than ever for organizations to prioritize initiatives that help them achieve their sustainability goals. It’s what customers, partners, and investors expect—and you need to have a clear strategy for success.

72% of CEOs globally say sustainability is an immediate priority.

79% of corporate IT leaders say sustainability is an “important” factor in equipment planning and procurement.

Sustainable IT: Technology That Makes a Difference

High-performance computing, artificial intelligence, and machine learning—the “revolutionary” digital technologies we now have at our fingertips—are growing more powerful by the day. So how can these and other innovative tools help companies tackle the biggest challenges associated with the climate crisis? The answer depends on the organization, but it always starts with IT.

Choosing IT Equipment: Sustainability Matters

As organizations look to reduce their impact on the environment by cutting emissions, minimizing waste, and becoming more efficient overall, many are now insisting their partners adopt similar measures in their own operations.

The logic behind doing so is solid: if you’re going to take responsibility for how your company’s actions affect the lives of people for generations to come, it’s important to ensure the organizations you do business with aren’t compromising your mission.

For IT departments, this boils down to choosing to work with vendors that offer technology solutions in line with your organization’s sustainability goals. These companies should be focused on their own carbon footprints and have programs in place to curb greenhouse gas emissions. Sustainability should be embedded in their technologies, part and parcel of everything they sell.

Among the many questions, an IT department might ask in determining whether a vendor meets its sustainability needs:

Product materials: What is the product made of? Does it include components made from sustainably sourced and/or recycled materials? Can these materials themselves be reused or easily recycled when the device is decommissioned? Learn More.

Product packaging: Is the product packaged in a way that minimizes waste? Is this packaging derived from recycled or renewable materials, and is it recyclable itself? See Video.

Product energy consumption: What are the power requirements of the product? Is it designed to be as energy efficient as possible? Learn More.

Product repairability/re-usability: If the product breaks, can it be fixed without compromising performance and employee productivity? Are parts easily accessible and replaceable? Does the vendor provide a service for keeping products in circulation once their original owners no longer need them? Does the vendor offer remote diagnostics and repair services that minimize or eliminate the need for workers to commute to a dedicated IT service depot? More info on Recycling and Disposal and Recovery.

Productivity: Will the product allow you to be more productive, thereby reducing the need for power consumption? Meet our product for Business Performance and Collaboration.

83% of corporate IT decision-makers
say it’s important for their firm to track
a vendor’s carbon footprint and sustainability

Choosing a Procurement Model: Flexibility Drives Sustainability

While the way a product is made is important, so too is the approach a department takes to put that device to use. By implementing an “as-a-service” procurement model that allows it to scale as an organization grows, it can reduce waste, move end-of-life management to the vendor, and potentially realize significant cost savings.

Also known as “aaS” or “XaaS,” as-a-Service makes it easy for organizations to fine-tune their use of IT resources. With Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), for example, a company can slash its on-prem energy requirements by leveraging cloud and virtual infrastructure resources provided over the internet. PC-as-a-Service (PCaaS) can provide similar benefits by optimizing an organization’s computer fleet: the IT department leases PCs—and software, if applicable—on a subscription basis, and the vendor takes back the equipment at end-of-life to either recycle or reuse it. https://indd.adobe.com/view/41e40298-cfae-41b6-8b5a-0d641a37efc8

End-to-End Sustainability with Dell Technologies

While IT departments clearly have a wide range of vendors with whom they can choose to work, that list narrows considerably once sustainability becomes a factor.

At Dell Technologies, our commitment to sustainability is core to everything we do, and we believe the products we make should help our customers become more sustainable as well. Our mission: to help our customers drive climate-positive solutions to achieve their sustainability goals through the power of the industry’s broadest and most innovative products and services designed to reduce waste, energy and emissions.

Working together and providing customers with eco-friendly tech and solutions that put the environment at the forefront is the new industry standard. Dell and Intel aim to continue to lead by example and make our social impact a positive one. Reach your sustainability goals with advanced technology and solutions from Intel and Dell. Let’s work together to drive innovation while making a lasting impact on our planet.

https://www.dell.com/en-uk/dt/corporate/social-impact/advancing-sustainability.htm#scroll=off&video-overlay=6307853539112

Learn more about sustainable devices and infrastructure at Dell Technologies powered by Intel®.

Connect with the team at SBAUK@Dell.com; we’d be delighted to support!